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Turner 'Bulldog' Hopkinson :: 12:00 AM @ April 5th, 2002 :: In-House: Interview |
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GameGossip: What games have inspired you to create a game like DS and why?
Chris Taylor: I draw inspiration from many different sources, including the first RPG games I played when I was a teenager, especially Wizardry. I also drew inspiration from novels and TV shows. After coming up with the broad strokes for the design, everyone at Gas Powered Games made huge contributions to the creation of Dungeon Siege. GameGossip: Is the game still on track to be released April this year?
CT: Yes, absolutely, 100 percent! GameGossip: Can you give us a range in terms of days?
CT: It will be on store shelves April 5th. GameGossip: Are you going to pull a Blizzard in the way that there aren't a variety of monsters, but rather just the same monster skinned in multiple colors and textures, or will we see a large assortment of completely different enemies to battle with?
CT: We created a huge number of unique monsters, and did in fact create some new textures. We didn't just tweak the palettes, however, and created some very unique monsters by changing the texture and scale of the monster. GameGossip: If there is one thing in particular that you wanted Dungeon Siege to bring to the table that previous games in the same genre failed to do what would that be?
CT: We managed to include almost all of the big stuff that I wanted to include, with a few exceptions, but nothing too big. GameGossip: While you've hinted at the minimum system requirements in the past can you give us a more specific range now that the game is further down the development path? Will the game run fine with the older generation of graphics cards; say the Voodoo3 or GeForce 1?
CT: We have had some great feedback on how many cards the game runs on, but I wouldn't go any lower than an 8meg card. GameGossip: Do you plan to continually enhance gameplay by introducing free content on a regular basis after the games retail release? This is a trend we've seen many more developers do lately and the gamer seems to really appreciate it.
CT: We may do this, but we aren't setting up a schedule to release stuff regularly. We would rather just put stuff out at random times. GameGossip: We've all read that weather, such as snow and rain, will effect gameplay in Dungeon Siege, but how about the day and night cycles?
CT: These things are largely used to create mood and a particular ambience in the world and don't have a lot of impact on gameplay, other than perhaps visibility. GameGossip: What has presented itself to be the largest challenge to your team in the creation of Dungeon Siege? Have any parts of the development gone more smoothly than anticipated, how about any that were more difficult than expected?
CT: The continuous world technology is definitely the most complicated aspect of the game's engine. GameGossip: What are some of the things your development team initially planned to include in the game but decided against once the development process began?
CT: At one time we wanted to be able to send party members back to town automatically with the press of a button, but that didn't really make as much sense once we started to develop the game. GameGossip: We've read that when your health runs out you enter a state of unconsciousness, it strikes us that this may become rather boring if this lasts for more than a few seconds, what can the player do to entertain him/her self while waiting to wake up?
CT: Usually unconsciousness only lasts for a number of seconds, but if the player has other characters in the party they can be healed to make them recover faster. GameGossip: Is it true that you've removed wind-affected projectiles? If so, is it likely that we'll see it implemented in a later version/patch, expansion pack, or perhaps even able to be placed into the game via the Siege Editor?
CT: I don't think this feature will return, as it didn't add to the gameplay fun, and just created another complication for the player to overcome. GameGossip: The game is said to have no loading times, but instead to be one huge "seamless" world. To us at least, this indicates that the system requirements would have to be pretty hefty. So, honestly, what do you think will be the lowest acceptable requirements to play the game with any decency?
CT: The minspec is a p2-333 with 128 megs of RAM, and an 8 meg video card, and 1 gig of HD space. GameGossip: For the casual gamer how many hours of gameplay will the game offer?
CT: In singleplayer between 30 and 50 hours, and in�multiplayer it's between 50 and 80 hours. GameGossip: Will the Siege Editor be user friendly? So friendly that a person with no prior experience in game editing could sit down, open the editor up, and begin making things?
CT: The ease of use of the Siege Editor really depends on what the user is trying to create. For example, if they are just trying to create some new terrain, it's actually pretty straight forward. However, to create new AI, or spell effects using the skrit system, it is a lot more involved. GameGossip: In total how many different spells and schools of magic can we expect to see?
CT: There are about 140 different spells in two schools of magic, Nature Magic and Combat Magic. |
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